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Charlie Danaher: Boulder should start collaborating with Xcel

By Charlie Danaher

Posted:
10/12/2015 06:33:57 AM MDT

After nearly four years of entertaining the fantasy of Boulder running its own utility, it's now time to change courses. The city should wisen up and take the off-ramp. But in order to do that, the city must first change its mindset, as in:

• Let go of the animosity toward Xcel. If you read the myriad opinion pieces by city staff and council, or view the city's website, you cannot help but detect a pervasive undercurrent of innuendo, casting Xcel as an uncaring, deceitful, uncooperative, money-hungry, democracy-skirting corporation. Corporations, in and of themselves, are not evil. Rather, they serve a wonderful function in society by aligning of the self-interest of various members of a community, whether they be corporate employees, customers or stockholders. This mechanism, when given the chance to function, results in a very efficient conversion of natural resources and human ingenuity into useful products and services. A generic suspicion of corporations, and specifically a distrust of Xcel, is not beneficial.

• Taking an honest look at the impact the muni would have on carbon emissions. Anyone who knows the renewable options available through Xcel, and appreciates the delay the muni process has had in those becoming available to Boulder residents, surely concludes that we would be in a better place than we are now, if we had engaged Xcel in a collaborative process.

• Quit throwing good money after bad. At this point in the game, after having spent nearly $20 million on a failed venture, the hardest thing to do is have the courage to stop and turn around. But that's what responsible, elected people are trusted to do — honor the facts, admit past mistakes, then set a new course toward achieving reasonable goals.

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• Give up on the idea of building an empire. From my observations of council and city staff, much of the motivation for forming a utility was not so much a dislike of monopolies, but rather a longing to become one. They have looked at Xcel's profits and said, "that should be our dough, and we should be calling the shots." This idea has been so strong that it's clouded their judgment to the point of thinking that they could take county customers without even asking Xcel for them, or asking the customers themselves.

• Embrace the idea of choice, and stop trying to control people's lives. A major difference between a political entity and a free-market corporation is how they look at consumer choice. Governments think they know what's best for people and set out to implement policies that force the desired behavior. When you combine this phenomenon with radical environmentalism, you get things like "right-sizing," forced landmarking, maximum house sizes, plastic bag fees, and mandatory recycling, just to name a few. If the city believed that consumers were smart enough — and trustworthy enough — to make these choices for themselves, they would gladly offer a variety of options. Anyone paying attention to the municipalization drumbeat can easily detect the city's war on fossil fuels. Such zeal will only result in a reduction of choices and the use of coercion to ensure the "right" choice is made by the consumer.

• Lighten up on the hysteria over CO2. Part of being a responsible decision maker is to properly weigh risks and benefits. If you listen to those who are convinced that CO2 spells the end of civilization as we know it, you'll notice they rarely cite the vast benefits of fossil fuels. Any honest assessment of the industrial revolution will appreciate how tremendously beneficial fossil fuels have been to our collective quality of life, to raising people out of poverty, and at alleviating the suffering of untold millions. Boulder would do well to keep this in perspective, and not only harp on the threats of "climate change."

Indeed the city made a huge strategic mistake in deciding to forcibly take county customers. Although it's clear the city has the right to form a utility within its city limits, it's also obvious that doing so is prohibitively expensive.

However, there are other options for moving forward. But that's true only if Boulder recognizes that fact, and is will embrace it. Hopefully the string of failed legal motions serves as a wake-up call.

Hey, Boulder, how about letting go of the negativity harbored toward Xcel and engaging in an honest and sincere collaboration? How about starting to look at Xcel as a partner, instead of as the enemy? It's all up to you.

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